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A group of environmentalist and good government groups (NYPIRG, Environmental Advocates, Scenic Hudson, Sierra Club, to name a few) are disputing GOP gubernatorial candidate John Faso’s claim during last night’s town hall meeting that the so-called “bigger, better bottle bill” is a tax increase.

The group notes that the bill passed the state Assembly two years in a row with “strong bipartisan support” and insists that the 5-cent redemption, which this measure would expand to non-carbonated beverages like bottled water and iced tea, “is a deposit, not a tax: consumers get their money back when they return bottles and cans for recycling.”

In addition, the group says, the unclaimed deposits now being kept by beverage companies, which they estimate at more than $2 billion, “is abandoned public property and should go to the state to support public needs.”

The bigger, better bottle bill (BBB, for short) would put an estimated $179 million a year of this money into the Environmental Protection Fund.

Lastly, the group maintains, the BBB will makeÂ communities cleaner at no public cost.Â Â Â

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